Jane Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female Director, President and CEO.

Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.

She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the State Department Foreign Policy Board, and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference.

Harman is a Trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Presidential Debates Commission.

A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Prior to serving in Congress, she was Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice.

She has four adult children and four grandchildren.

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Does the NSA make us safer? Were Snowden's leaks good for the U.S.? Jane Harman discusses these questions with former NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander and the ACLU’s Anthony Romero during MSNBC's first "Great Debate" from the Aspen Ideas Festival. more

"Even as we work to stabilize the region, we absolutely must keep in mind the end game. For al Qaeda and the rest of the transnational jihadist movement, the brass ring remains a major attack on Western soil," writes Jane Harman. more

Recent events have threatened Iraq’s stability, highlighted the dangers of the Syrian civil war, and raised serious questions about how the US should respond to the current crisis. Join us by PHONE for this Ground Truth Briefing as we examine ISIS, the policies of the Maliki Government, impact of Syria on Iraq, and US options in response to these challenges. more

In recent weeks, Lamberto Zannier has travelled to Kiev on numerous occasions, as well as to Moscow and other European capitals, attempting to defuse the ongoing crisis. During a recent conversation with Wilson Center President Jane Harman, Zannier presented the OSCE’s priorities for restoring stability in Ukraine and discussed the impact of the crisis on European and Euro-Atlantic security. That’s the focus of this edition of REWIND. more

This year, the Munich Security Conference celebrated its 50th anniversary. These fifty years of substantive dialogue on security cooperation have existed against a changing political backdrop – from the tensions of the Cold War and the brutal conflict in the Western Balkans, to the attacks of September 11, 2001, the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the global “War on Terror.” Mutual security and the transatlantic relationship are once again faced with challenges in the form of the crisis in Ukraine. What does this crisis mean for mutual security, and how will it affect the security architecture in Europe? more

In this Ground Truth Briefing, three veteran observers and analysts of Syria assess that future, the impact of recent presidential elections, a growing jihadi presence and the prospects for change in U.S policy. more

The dynamism of Asian markets, China’s rise, and Japan’s quest to become a normal state, play key roles in determining the future of the US-ROK alliance. At the same time, U.S. perception of China’s growing influence differs from that of Korea’s. Similarly, Washington does not see eye-to-eye with Seoul over changes in Japan’s policies. While the bilateral alliance remains strongest in dealing with North Korea, the two allies also have different views on dealing with this challenge. more

With Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln” hitting theaters this Friday, there’s a lot of hype about what our next president — now that we know who he is — can learn from Honest Abe about running and healing a politically divided country. But as Barack Obama heads into his second term, there’s another president who may have just as much relevance as a role model: Woodrow Wilson.

After the terror attacks on 9/11, a public opinion survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed widespread support for increased spending on national security and counterterrorism. A decade later, a new survey shows that "Americans have become increasingly selective about how and where to engage in the world." Jane Harman and Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution, spoke with listeners about the results of the 2012 survey on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

Jane Harman writes about the potential of serious games – like the Wilson Center’s own Budget Hero – to engage citizens in public policy and even fix our broken Congress in Bloomberg's "My Bright Idea" column.

The formula to avoid the “fiscal cliff” is simple write Jane Harman and Vin Weber: a bipartisan compromise including spending cuts, entitlement reform and changes to the tax code that was outlined nearly two years ago in The Simpson Bowles Act. “No party can solve these knotty issues alone or without compromise,” the former members of Congress write for Politico.

Wilson Center Director, President, and CEO Jane Harman appeared on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" to discuss US foreign policy with Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Morning Joe hosts. The conversation included discussion of UN Peace Envoy Kofi Annan’s call for a peaceful solution in Syria, whether the mission has been accomplished in Afghanistan, and the current state of Egypt.

Wilson Center Director, President, and CEO Jane Harman appeared on Charlie Rose in a wide-ranging interview about Egypt and the Arab Spring, money in politics, and her work at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

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Despite months of intense wrangling between Kyiv and EU capitals, it is now highly unlikely that Ukraine will sign the EU association agreement during the November 28-29 European Union Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. In this Ground Truth Briefing, we hear the analysis of prominent Ukrainian, Russian and German experts.

In this Ground Truth Briefing, two veteran U.S. policymakers and a Wilson Center Iran expert assess the implications of ongoing nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran, and their consequences for American interests.

A potent mixture of globalization, economic inequality and political conflict is shaking the foundations of global stability. In this National Conversation, panelists discuss globalization and the resulting pressures on political structures in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

In this Ground Truth Briefing, three veteran analysts of Iran, Israel and the U.S.-Iranian relationship assess the latest round of P5+1 negotiations in Geneva. Is an interim accord sustainable? Can end-game diplomacy on the nuclear issue succeed? And how will regional players, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, deal with the results achieved so far?

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano speaks at the Wilson Center about the essential role of the IAEA in promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy worldwide, helping to promote nuclear safety and monitoring national nuclear programs. It is expected that discussions will also touch safeguards activities of the Agency, including developments with regard to Iran.

A Book Event for ENERGY & SECURITY: Strategies for a World in Transition by Jan H. Kalicki and David L. Goldwyn (editors), Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press. Reception and book signing to follow.

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has given a new cohesion and direction to EU foreign policy. Please join us as she talks with Jane Harman, Director, President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center, on critical issues from the UN General Assembly in New York - Iran and Syria - and her recent work on the Balkans, Egypt, and Somalia.

The Women in Public Service is excited to announce a joint event in partnership with Barnard College entitled, “A Global Conversation: Why the UN Must Focus on Women’s Leadership.”
As the United Nations convenes its 68th General Assembly to tackle some of humanity’s most intractable problems, please join us for an exploration of key issues facing women today. Barnard College President Debora Spar, the Women in Public Service Project, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars welcome a panel of UN representatives and global leaders for an evening of dialogue and discussion.

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